News

KC Metro's changing its guidelines
I’m a member of a task force convened to evaluate and update the social equity and geographic value components of Metro’s service guidelines. There are precious few "regular" bus riders on this task force, and I think we need some in the audience. If you happen to have three hours free in the middle of a weekday, here’s the schedule of meetings. (The next one's on May 21st.)

Seattle's transportation future
This spring, SDOT is sponsoring a speaker series to explore what we Seattle can learn from other cities' transportation successes. The speaker list includes Gil Penalosa and Janette Sadik-Khan. (!)

More transportation in the news

• I-917 has officially failed to qualify for the November ballot. This is Tim Eyman’s second failed initiative of 2006. (The first was referendum 65, an attempt to repeal the gay rights bill.) Now, with the threat of severe funding cuts removed, Sound Transit can move ahead with planned projects–projects like a new Sounder station in Mr. Eyman’s hometown of Mukilteo. Perhaps he’ll decide to embrace the new station and take a traffic-free ride or two into the city. After all, the northbound Sounder provides a fabulous view of a gay nude beach on its way through Woodway.

Talking Signs® technology is an infrared wireless communications system that provides remote directional human voice messages…for people with vision, cognitive or reading disabilities…

The system consists of short audio signals sent by invisible infrared light beams from permanently installed transmitters to a hand-held receiver that decodes the signal and delivers the voice message through its speaker or headset.

In case making travel easier for people with visual impairments wasn’t enough, these infrared identifiers apparently provide several other benefits.